Wednesday, 24 November, is Go Home on Time Day , an initiative of The Australian Institute., based on recent research that confirms work is getting in the way of many people living their lives the way they want to.
The study found that because of the time spent at work:
- One in two Australians are prevented from spending enough time with family
- One in two Australians are prevented from doing physical exercise
- One in three Australians are prevented from eating healthy meals
- One in four Australians are too busy to go to the doctor when they probably should
Go Home On Time Day hopes to raise awareness about the extent of overwork in Australia. The statistics read as follows:
- The typical full-time employee in Australia works 70 minutes of unpaid overtime a day.
- This equates to 33 eight-hour days per year, or six and a half standard working weeks.
Put another way, Australian workers are ‘donating’ more than their annual leave entitlement back to their employers in the form of unpaid overtime.
The irony is that many people would say that they work long hours because they are providing the life they want for their family. And yet are not able to spend the time they want to with their family. “Oh, I’ll spend more time … next year … when the project is finished … when we get through this busy time … when we have a fully staffed department …. when Susan/ Peter/ John gets back from holiday/ sick leave/ parental leave …. “
All about making promises that things will be different ….. “when ….” And some people find that when “when” arrives, it’s too late.
There are a number of people who are making decisions to live their life in a different way; to resist the pressure to spend too much time at work and to make time for the tings they enjoy.
Wednesday is just one day, Go Home on Time Day. What decisions are you making every day about how you spend your time?